Two people were arrested on Saturday for thrashing a 15-year-old Dalit boy in Bhavda village on Thursday.
“Though it appears to be a minor issue, we have arrested Sahil Thakor and Sarvarkhan Pathan from Bhavda village, about 40 km from Ahmedabad, after an FIR was lodged against them for beating up a Dalit boy. The case has been registered under IPC as well as Prevention of Atrocities (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Act,” a senior police officer said.
Harsh Parmar, a Class X student, was sitting with a friend near their colony, Vankarvas. Thakor and Pathan came by and began abusing Parmar.
“They asked my son what he was doing there, instead of doing the traditional job of removing carcasses, and started beating him,” Dinesh Parmar, the victim’s father, said.
“Thakor runs a small gang called Cobra Gang. Although the villagers had already lodged several complaints against Thakor for his high-handed behaviour, little could be done due to the situation prevailing across the state,” the police officer said.
Dalits across Gujarat have stopped picking up cattle carcasses after the Una flogging incident and this is creating a rift among several communities in the rural belt of the state.
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